The Bills’ big chance is here: Tom Brady & Pats

If one NFL player above all others has just killed the Buffalo Bills over the years — well, outside of Scott Norwood — it’s Tom Brady.

Get a load of these numbers.

With Brady at the helm the New England Patriots are 18-2 against Buffalo, going back 12 seasons. Their only loss since 2003 was last September at Ralph Wilson Stadium, when Brady inexplicably unravelled in the second half as the Bills came back to win 34-31. But he more than made up for it three months later, in a 49-21 payback win.

The teams square off again on Sunday at the Ralph.

The Patriots’ victories in this series under Brady haven’t exactly been flukey. Ten times his Pats have scored 30 or more points against Buffalo. Twice, more than 40. Once, more than 50.
Seven of the 18 wins have been by four touchdowns or more.

That’s dominance.

And because Buffalo and New England are AFC East division rivals, the Bills and their fans normally get two bitter Brady pills jammed down their throats each fall.

The bitterness quantified: In his career against Buffalo, Brady is 407-of-621 (65.6%), for 4,830 yards, 46 touchdowns and only 17 interceptions — good for a 102.4 passer rating.

Like we said, Brady kills the Bills. He sits back in the pocket against a usually non-existent Buffalo pass rush, picks them completely apart, then leaves the entrails for the crows.

Drive after drive. Game after game.

Ahhhhh, but that’s in the past now, right?

The Bills grew tired of being Brady’s you-know-what. In March they signed Mario Williams, one of the league’s most feared pass rushers, to a $100-million contract. A few days later they signed former Patriot Mark Anderson, another effective pass-rushing defensive end.

Pats owner Robert Kraft immediately took note.
“Our O line is going to have to do a good job,” Kraft told reporters at the NFL annual meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. “I’m sure part of (Buffalo’s motivation) was geared toward coming after our boy, No. 12.”

As the boys at NASA would say, that’s a ‘firm’.

“Well, he’s right. He’s exactly right,” Bills head coach Chan Gailey told me a day later. “That’s what we feel like we’ve got to do — you’ve got to rush the passer in our division. That’s the first thing you go after is (winning) your division.”

A month later, the Bills drafted an elite cover cornerback in Stephon Gilmore, who after a shaky first game against the New York Jets has shown he indeed has the potential to become a lockdown NFL corner.

Don’t think Brady isn’t wary of the new threats in Buffalo.

“Yeah, they’re big. It’s a big front (with) big linebackers,” he told reporters in New England on Wednesday. “They can all move, they’re athletic and they really count on those front four to get to the quarterback, and they do it. It’s not like you can stand back there and figure everything out all day.

“They’ll really challenge us in all areas (including) with the secondary, and the way that they cover. They’re up tight and they jam you, and they want to be physical. It’s not like there are a lot of easy yards out there.”

After posting zeroes across the board in pass-rush stats against the Jets, the Bills’ defensive line has begun to realize its scary potential — with a combined eight sacks and eight QB hurries the past two weeks, against Kansas City and Cleveland.

That’s what Bills GM Buddy Nix had in mind when he convinced his superiors to open the vault.
And as Nix told me during training camp, he likes it that expectations are high for a change in Buffalo.

“I’ve never been many places where if you didn’t have ‘em, that good things happen,” Nix said. “So I think (fans) oughta expect a lot of us. We expect a lot out of ourselves.”

And then, in a comment that got picked up everywhere, Nix shot this salvo toward Foxboro, Mass.
“New England, the AFC — they don’t scare me. I think we can compete with any of ‘em, and our intention is to try to win the division.”

The Bills could go a long way toward that goal with a win on Sunday. It would improve Buffalo to 3-1, and drop New England to 1-3.

If Bills defenders can get in Brady’s grill, early and often, there’s a good chance the crows might wind up circling over his carcass. For a change.

BILLS’ D-line STEPS IT UP:

After firing blanks in Week 1, the Buffalo Bills’ vaunted defensive line has been locked, loaded and on target the past two weeks: